Cyprus marks Friday the 35th anniversary of Turkey`s second offensive
against the island in the summer of 1974 resulting in the occupation of
the islands northern third.

It was 14 August 1974 when Ankara`s representatives to the Geneva peace
talks refused to give the Greek Cypriot representative time to consider
their proposals and effectively presented Glafcos Clerides, former
President of the Republic, with an ultimatum.

Turkish troops invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974, five days after the
legal government of the late Archbishop Makarios III was toppled by a
military coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece.

Two unproductive conferences in Geneva followed; the first between
Britain, Greece and Turkey and the second with the additional
attendance of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot representatives.

Three weeks after a ceasefire was declared on 22 July, and despite the
fact that talks were still being held and just as an agreement seemed
about to be reached, the Turkish army mounted a second full-scale
offensive.

As a result, Turkey increased its hold to include the booming tourist
resort of Famagusta in the east and the rich citrus-growing area of
Morphou in the west. All in all almost 37% of the territory of the
Republic of Cyprus came under Turkish military occupation.

Nearly one third of the population, some 200,000 Greek Cypriots, were
forcibly uprooted from their homes and properties, thousands were
killed during the hostilities, over 1,000 persons were listed as
missing while thousands of Greek Cypriots and Maronites remained
enclaved.

The European Court of Human Rights has found Turkey guilty of mass
violations of human rights in Cyprus.

Over the years, a number of unsuccessful peace rounds were launched
under the auspices of the United Nations to find a settlement. These
efforts were short lived as they stumbled on the Turkish Cypriot sides
insistence to gain recognition for the puppet regime it set up in
November 1983. Only Turkey has recognized the so-called regime which
was branded by the Security Council ``legally invalid``.

Ankara has ignored numerous UN resolutions calling for respect of the
sovereignty, the independence and the territorial integrity of the
Republic of Cyprus and the immediate withdrawal of the Turkish
occupation troops.

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet
Ali Talat began in September 2008 UN-led direct talks to achieve a
comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus problem and so far had 40
meetings covering the first reading of all main aspects of the Cyprus
problem (Governance and power-sharing, property, territory, EU matters,
economic matters and security).

The agreed solution, they added, will be put to separate simultaneous
referenda.

The two leaders are scheduled to enter the second phase on September
3.

The relatives of the 121 victims killed in the worst air disaster in
the history of Cypriot and Greek aviation gathered on Friday in
memorials to mark the fourth anniversary of the tragedy.

On August 14, 2005, an Helios Boeing 737 aircraft flying from Larnaca
to Prague via Athens crashed into the mountain side of Grammatiko,
north of the Greek capital. All passengers and crew on board were
killed. Most of the victims were Cypriots.

Memorials on Friday took place in Grammatiko, Greece, and the chapel of
Agia Thekli in Mosfiloti, Cyprus.

Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus Chrysostomos II departs Sunday for
Poland, on an official visit at the invitation of Metropolitan of
Warsaw and All Poland Savvas.

According to an announcement, issued by the Holy Archbishopric here,
during his stay in the country, Archbishop Chrysostomos will meet
Metropolitan Savvas and other senior clergy of the Church of Poland, as
well as political officials. He will also visit churches and
monasteries.

Cyprus will host the annual meeting of the Marine Accident
Investigators International Forum (MAIIF).

Speaking to CNA, the Director of the Department of Merchant Shipping
(DMS) Serghios Serghiou underlined the importance of the Forum and of
its annual meeting to be held in Limassol between 11 and 16 October.

MAIIF is the association of casualty investigators` working for
government administrations. Currently it comprises members from
administrations around the world. The purpose of the forum is to
promote and improve accident investigation and foster communication and
co-operation between investigators.